Personality: Dispositional Approach

10/29/18Personality: Dispositional Approach 3 assumptions– personality is stable over time– people act predictably in different settings– each person is unique TYPES vs. TRAITS– Types are categories of personality– Traits are building blocks of personality– Allport (1937) "A man can be said to have a trait,but he cannot be said to have a type. Rather hefits a type."1

10/29/18Dispositional Approach: Types Hippocrates and Galen’s four temperaments physiognomy – character read from facial features Sheldon’s Somatotypes (1940’s) - discredited– Endomorph – fleshy; relaxed, sociable– Mesomorph – muscular; vigorous, dominant– Ectomorph – thin; thoughtful, seclusive, anxious Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: not a valid typology– 16 combinations of Extraversion / Introversion; Sensing /iNtuition; Thinking / Feeling; Judging / Perception– poor validity and reliability (type can change after 5 weeksthough individual scales do better); dichotomies not real;aside from intr / extr, doesn't predict intrapersonal or jobperformance; self-report is manipulable; big businessOrigin of Myers-Briggs Typology: Carl Jung (1921) four types classified into two functions, with two attitudes– two perceiving functions, sensation and intuition;two judging functions, thinking and feeling– attitudes: extraversion means “outward-turning” andintroversion means “inward-turning”. extravert: directed outward, esp. toward people; often prefermore frequent interaction; energized by spending time withpeople introvert: directed inward, esp. toward ideas; often preferdeeper interaction; energized by spending time alone Note: introversion is not shyness: introversion more of apreference or tendency, vs. shyness due to distress;introverts prefer solitary activity, but don’t fear socialencounters2

10/29/18Dispositional Approach: Traits TRAITS: qualities people possess in differingamounts; make behavior same in differentsituations Allport – identify, consolidate traits from descriptors––––cardinal traits: dominant ruling passions (not in everyone)central traits: general, consistent across situationssecondary traits: more individual and circumstantialapproach is both nomothetic and idiographic Eysenck’s factors (biologically determined)– psychoticism: aggressiveness, hostility low agreeableness and conscientiousness in Big Five– extraversion: outward directed, vs. introversion– neuroticism: emotionality, stability, moodinessDispositional Approach: Traits Big 5 Traits – “OCEAN” (as of 1980’s)– Openness to experience – try new things– Conscientiousness – disciplined, dutiful– Extraversion – social engagement– Agreeableness – getting along with others– Neuroticism – emotional instability, experiencingnegative emotions not Freud’s “neurosis” – mental or physical distress orillness from unconscious conflict not inherently good or bad; not related to each other add Honesty / Humility: sincerity vs. deceitfulness3

10/29/18Big 5 – “OCEAN”Personality: Humanistic Approach Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1954)– physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, then – self-actualization (realizing full potential) isultimate goal but others must be met first spontaneous, creative, childlike awe; tolerance, gentlehumor, pursue greater good; “peak experiences”– growth orientation toward self-actualization, vs.deficiency orientations till then progress up hierarchy: more individuality,humanness and psychological health more generally: basic two first, then variety ofemphases / orders can yield well-being4

10/29/18Maslow’s Hierarchy of NeedsPersonality: Humanistic ApproachCarl Rogers’s Self Theory (1961) need for positive regard not met unconditionally; unconditionalpositive regard means being accepted, valued, treatedpositively regardless of behavior we’re usually valued for meeting others’ standards: "conditionsof worth" to receive positive regard; thus people condition usaway from our genuine feelings self-concept - idea of who we are and want to be, BUT conditions of worth intrude: strive to actualize self that’s not us- person can seem successful, still feel unfulfilled reconnect with self through relationship includingunconditional positive regard, empathy, genuinenessHumanistic Approach may be too optimistic abouthuman nature5

10/29/18Social Cognitive Approach originally called “social learning” till 1980s Mischel (1968): assertion that personalitycould not predict behavior (pre-Big Five)– attitudes and behavior were not stable, but variedwith the situation; intrinsic personality not a thing! Rotter (1954): ”If a person is at the 50th percentile forthe trait of aggression, does this mean he will alwaysact halfway aggressive, or act aggressive half of thetime (and if so, which half of the time?), or what?”– predicting behavior from personality measuresseen as impossible – instead look at person ANDparticular behaviors IN situationSocial Cognitive Approach Rotter (1954): behavior is learned in socialenvironment just as in maze: reinforcement– responses not just caused by environmental stimuli butindividual’s tendencies: personality as stable potentials forresponding to situations– behavior changed by changing thought or env’t Rotter’s Expectancy Theory– Behavior Expectancy * Value (of outcome)– expectancies can be learned from observation and may bedistorted (clinical problems from maladaptive behavior)– value of reinforcer varies with individual – parentalpunishment could be version of attention– Internal vs. External Locus of Control – where lies theresponsibility for reinforcement, and success vs. failure?6

10/29/18Social Cognitive Approach Bandura: what about responses not “learned” yet? reinforcement still works when observed rather thanexperienced: note others’ behaviors andconsequences (vicarious experience) observation, imitation, reinforcement (or punishment) Bobo dolls experiment: is aggression a trait, or learned? self-efficacy: person’s belief that they can achievegoals, succeed, affect environment influenced by mastery experience, modeling of success,physical / emotional state, encouragement (“you-can-do-it”) Reciprocal Determinism– person, behavior & environment influence each otherReciprocal DeterminismPerson/CognitionBehaviorEnvironment7

10/29/18imagine a hypothetical course instructor in class (consistency):at parties (variability):SITUATIONclasses usually full of prettysimilar people (some laugh morethan others), have goals, sociallyneutral esp. toward instructorSITUATIONparties vary by size and familiarityof crowd, unstructured, friendpercentage and responsivenessin interactions both varyPERSONhistory of good experiences,confidence, past popularity,competence / self-efficacy,enthusiasmPERSONhistory of awkwardness fromearlier experience, perceiveddullness or uninterestingness;vs. sociability, gregariousnessfrom later experienceBEHAVIORoutgoing, make jokes, improvise,stunts, comfortable with selfrevelationBEHAVIORmight be: funny, chatty,entertaining to strangers;vs. quiet, wallflower, boredPersonality Assessment Self-Report Tests Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) as example of boththeory and test Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality InventoryRevised (NEO PI-R): valid and reliable measuringinstrument for identifying people on Big Five dimensions Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI):empirically keyed test, useful for diagnosis of disorderswhen responses are examined in special populations Projective Tests Rorschach ink blots: describe random images; lacksreliability and validity Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): tell story about photos;okay for reliability and validity, for its purposes8

10/29/18Personality Assessment certain tests more appropriate for certain uses MBTI: overall inadequate validity and reliability; bad foremployment decisions, good for parties and memes (andself-description) NEO PI-R: good for researching personality, though lacksnuance of individual character MMPI: good for diagnosis of psychological disorders andstudying personality; many subscales out of 500 items Rorschach: in clinical practice, used for eliciting openended responses to get at issues – esp. unconsciousones, from psychodynamic perspective TAT: in clinical practice, used for eliciting open-endedresponses and examining specific aspects like motivationPersonality Assessment some tests ask directly about what they measure MBTI. NEO PI-R: agree /disagree w statements about self some tests don’t make it obvious MMPI – even researchers don’t know why questions work problems and solutions social desirability – people will misrepresent themselves tolook good; so include items that are negative but true ofeveryone (e.g., “I sometimes lie”) to see if they deny it built-in validity scales (in empirically keyed MMPI forexample): faking good, faking bad, evasiveness,Inconsistent responses9

Personality: Dispositional Approach 3 assumptions – personality is stable over time – people act predictably in different settings – each person is unique TYPES vs. TRAITS – Types are categories of personality – Traits are building blo